Key for railroad-spikes.



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Patented Se t,

. 71-57. 4.. Jim; .5. [2175 [11. Z I

UNiTED STATES;

PATENT 'QF c JOHN. HARRISON, or PninAonLPH-m, PENNSYLVANIA.

symmetries forming art0? 'laetters i atent 315633333, dated September '26, 1899.

' Application filed n 'rn 20, 18991 seal-r0; 713,711. on model.)

Be it known that I','JoH memos; a emzen of the UnitedStates', residing atEhiladelphi'a, county Of' Philadelphia, andStaLte bf Pennsylvania, haveinvented' anew andjusef ulImpr'oveme ntinfKeys for Railroad spikes,

of which the followingis afull, clear,v {indexact description, reference being'had tothe" ac-. companying drawings, which form apart of this specification. j p H v My invention'has for its objectto'produce a new and improved key for spikes, hym'eans of which 01d spikes and oldcroSs-tis whose eificiency have. been impaired or destroyed by thespikes wearing or'workingloosemay be again rendered available and efficientas a means for firmlyfastening the rail or railchair upon" the ties.

It frequently happens i that after; ue-{has been in use for sometime the slight butcontjin nous working of the spike in the wood,added to thetendency of the wood to appreciably disintegrate at its point of contact with'the spike, will wearxaway the spike-hole radially to such an extent that the spike will no longer have any binding engagement with the crosstie, underwhich conditions the rail or railchairis no longer efiectiyelysecured to such tie, and the tie is ordinarilydiscarded and'a new one put in itsplace. carding of old tiesfor the reason'state'd involves' an expense which in the aggreg'ate' is aconsiderable and serious item in the maintenance and repair of the general track construction. The key which-forms the subject of my invention has been found to obviate the necessity offdis'carding old'ties by reason of the wearing away of the spike-hole the loosening of the spike, as itjmay be us edand is intended to be used in Connection with the old tie and. the 'old' spike, and whenlso used secures as firm and binding an engagement of the. rail or rail-chair and tie'as' is effected by a new spike'driv'en ina'fnew tie. I The key which forms the subject of my invention consists of a strip of metalof a thickness small in comparison with that of the spike, and which is provided onone'gor both sides, but necessarily onthesideiiwhicli'is intended for engagement with" the" wallet the old spike-hole, with projecting portions or surfaces, which may be either corrugations,

This frequent diste eth, projections, serrations, ridges, or'their equivalent. The spike used isw'ithdrawn from the'tie'and the key dropped loosely in 'thespike ,-hole. The spike is then' driven home, which causes the key to he forced latstarry, against the wall ofthe spike-holeand' ,thei corrugations or teeth thereof to bite or 'r'ssnno thewood, which not only causes the spike tofit tightly in the'tie, but by the gripping action of the key provision is made for subsequent wear without resultant vertical 'loojs'eness'fof the spike.

Inthe drawings 1 show [severalembodi 1 menisci my invention, some of which posse'ss substantial advantages over others, but

all of which exhibit the same generic principlefof construction and operation.

"Figure 1 is ajvertical transverse section through the tie and rail, the spike and key being'shown in side elevation. Fig. 2 is a partial horizontal section through line 2 2 of Fig.1. Fig.8 is a view similar to Fig. 2, but difiering therefromjin that thes'pike is round and the key concentrically curved. Figs. 4, 5,16, and 7 are perspective views of modified forms of keys embodying my invention. Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing a modified arrangement ofspike and tie.

a is the tie. I h is therai l, which may also represent the base of a chair or other rail-support in a construction wherein the rail is not directly spiked to'the tie.

c is the spike. "d is the key. in Figs. land 8 the key is formed of an originally flat strip of metal bent or pressed so; as to exhibit transverse corrugations e,

forming projecting portions or surfaces adap t.

edftoeng'age thewall of the spike-hole. This 'I. consider the preferred embodiment of my invention, as it possesses great strength and has. the capacity of being forced into the wood a sufficient extent to prevent a vertical slippage of the key and when in place exerts also a decided lateral pressure against the spike. In Fig; lthe key is placed on the side ofithe'spi'ke opposite the rail, and the 'head offthelkey isTinade'long enough to enable. it to'be' turned'aroi'i'n'dand over the head of the spike, whereby supplemental means are afforded for holding the key and'spike in proper relationto each other. In Fig. 8 the key is placed on the opposite side of the spike and is bent inwardly over the edge of the base of the rail and then upwardly, and after the spike is driven home the upwardly-extending terminus of the key may be bent down over the head of the spike. If the spike is round in cross-section, it is preferable to make the key correspondingly curved in cross-section, so as to have a continuous bearing between the spike and key, as shown in Fig. 3.

In Fig. i I have shown the key formed with obliquely and transversely extending corrugationsf, whose function and action are similar to the corrugations formed in the key shown in Fig. 1.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a key flat on one side and provided with teeth, serrations, or projections g on the side which is intended to engage the wood, the teeth being formed so that the metal between the ridges or apexes of the teeth is curved, so as to lessen the chances of breakage; by reason of the powerful wedge-pressure to which the key is sub jected. I

In Fig. 6 the key is stamped so as to form projections h, which will be forced into the wood when the spike is driven home; but the engagement between the wood and key being only at a succession of points the binding ac tion will be somewhat less efficient than in the other forms shown;

In Fig. 7 the key is formed with angular teeth, serrations, or projections i. This form of key is adapted to exert a powerful pressure against the Wood and will be forced into the wood a considerable distance. The key, however, must be used with care to prevent breakage of the key atthe intersection of adjacent teeth.

The keys which I have described are particularly adapted to be used for the purpose of renewing or prolonging the efliciency of old cross-ties. It is not adapted to be driven bodily into the solid wood, as this would break the teeth of the toothed or serrated keys or distort the corrugated keys. For the same reason it is not adapted to be driven between the tie and the spike after the spike is in place, and it could not be practically used in this way for the additional reason that the orifice formed thereby would be equal in diameter to the maximum thickness of the keys, so that the spike would be held in place with even less security and permanence than ordinarily. The only efficient way of utilizing the key is to drop it loosely in a spikehole previously prepared, and more specifically a spike-hole from which an old spike has been withdrawn, and then to drive the spike in the somewhat smaller orifice remaining between the key and the opposite wall of the spike-hole. It is also important, if not practically essential, that the thickness of the key should be relatively small as compared with the thickness of the spike, so that the wedge action of the spike will be only sufficiently powerful to cause a firm engagement of the wood and key and for the further more important reason that the hole should not be very'considerably larger than the spike itself, as otherwise the spike would be deflected in the line of least resistance laterally away from the key, which would prevent an effective bearing between the spike and key throughout the whole length of the key and prevent the lower part of the key from havmg any effective engagement with the contiguous wall of the hole.

It is apparent that my improved key is available for other purposes than the specific purpose of securing a spike to a rail, and I do not confine myself to the particular use or application of the invention hereinhe'fore described, except in those claims where such particular application is specifically set out.

Having now fully described myinvention, what I claim, and desire to protect by Letters Patent, isp 1. As a means for utilizing old spikes in old spike-holes, the combination with a railroadtie having a spike-hole therein, of an ordinary spike, having plane-surfaced sides and of substantially uniform thickness throughout the greater portion of the length and tapering to a point at its driving end, and being of a thickness less than the average diameter of the spike-hole, of a key having later ally-projecting surfaces, thekey of a width substantially that of the spike, and of a length approximately that of the spike, and adapted to be inserted loosely into the spikehole after the withdrawal and before the reinsertion of the spike, the width of the spike plus the Width of the key being substantially greater than the diameter of the spike-hole, the laterally-projecting surfaces of the key being forced into engagement with the tie by the lateral pressure exerted by the spike during its insertion.

2. As a means for utilizing old spikes in old'spike-holes, the combination with the spike, of a key of substantially uniform thickness but of a thickness substantially less than its width, and of a length approximately that of the spike, the key being bent laterally to form corrugations substantially as described, the key being adapted to be inserted loosely into the spike-hole after the withdrawal of the spike and to be forced into engagement with the tie by the lateral pressure exerted by the spike duringits insertion. In testimony of which invention I have hereunto set my hand, at Philadelphia, on this 13th day of April, 1899.

JOHN HARRISON.

\Vitnesses:

FRANK S. BUSSER, Z. K. LOUOKS. 

